Methodologies for automatic visual identification in heat detection aids. New techniques will be designed and developed to automate the existing manual heat detection of cattle, under general imaging conditions. The proposed intelligent system will consist of six stages: 1- image acquisition, 2- image preprocessing, 3- presence detection, 4- illumination compensation, 5- HD detection, and 6- heat detection. The proposed system will handle various image variations, and will be fast and cost-effec ....Methodologies for automatic visual identification in heat detection aids. New techniques will be designed and developed to automate the existing manual heat detection of cattle, under general imaging conditions. The proposed intelligent system will consist of six stages: 1- image acquisition, 2- image preprocessing, 3- presence detection, 4- illumination compensation, 5- HD detection, and 6- heat detection. The proposed system will handle various image variations, and will be fast and cost-effective. The developed system will improve the productivity of Australian cattle industry.Read moreRead less
A generic decision-making design environment to enable end users in rural industries to develop expert systems. Successful decision support systems developed by end-users has been limited: our proposed approach advances this capability. Using natural representations of industry knowledge, this project will specify a generic design environment in which industry end-users can develop relevant decision support systems. It extends expert systems technologies to overcome known limitations, increasin ....A generic decision-making design environment to enable end users in rural industries to develop expert systems. Successful decision support systems developed by end-users has been limited: our proposed approach advances this capability. Using natural representations of industry knowledge, this project will specify a generic design environment in which industry end-users can develop relevant decision support systems. It extends expert systems technologies to overcome known limitations, increasing context and relevance and encouraging user uptake. Key industry stakeholders will select relevant problems to identify decision categories, leading to specification of the generic design environment. This promises improved decision quality for dairy farmers in the recently deregulated dairy industry; the design environment will be transferable to other rural industries.Read moreRead less
The Relevance of the Bovine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) to Milk Production. The objective of this project is to provide the dairy industry with an integrated package that includes a ?dairy performance database? linked to DNA-based information to complement existing breeding practices. Our intention is increase the profitability of the dairy industry, hence making a dairy farm a sustainable venture in a deregulated environment. Profitability results from a combination of several fact ....The Relevance of the Bovine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) to Milk Production. The objective of this project is to provide the dairy industry with an integrated package that includes a ?dairy performance database? linked to DNA-based information to complement existing breeding practices. Our intention is increase the profitability of the dairy industry, hence making a dairy farm a sustainable venture in a deregulated environment. Profitability results from a combination of several factors. The drivers of the industry include political, market, environmental, husbandry, nutrition, and genetic factors. These factors are interrelated. In this proposal, we are specifically interested in the relationship between milk yields and the DNA profile of dairy cattle.Read moreRead less